As with Pat Drazin's case, I too am confronted by mothers of preterm babies
who have been told (or so they say) that the baby is too little, too young,
too weak, too uncoordinated, too ANYTHING to breastfeed and therefore she
must pump and bottle-feed for 1 week, 1 month, until baby hits .... lbs
(you pick the weight), etc.

In most cases, I suspect such advice is a way of getting out from under the
"responsibility" of helping the mother breastfeed by someone unsure how to
do so.

Do we have any NICU nurses out there who can speak to this issue? In nearly
all cases, when the mother is motivated, the baby usually comes around. The
key seems to be the mother"s willingness to set aside all the conflicting
information she has already received in order to "start fresh."

Thoughts of others would be helpful here.



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         %% Kathleen G. Auerbach, PhD, IBCLC          %%
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